The 40-year-old Toronto man went to Guelph Police Service headquarters late Thursday night and was charged with mischief under $5,000.

The crime occurred on Tuesday at 12 p.m. University of Guelph staff called Community Campus Police after they saw the man draw graffiti near the campus’s War Memorial Hall. He caused about $2,000 in damage.

Guelph Police posted a picture of the man on their website and the community helped identify him.

Guelph’s future ability to participate in large provincial and federal infrastructure programs could be at risk due to council’s decision about how to pay for the Urbacon lawsuit settlement.

That’s the trade-off council has agreed to make in order to avoid having to repay the multi-million-dollar settlement out of tax revenues, which would put upward pressure on the city’s annual operating budgets for years to come.

When the out-of-court settlement of the lawsuit, filed in 2008 by the fired city hall contractor, was announced last September, council decided to pay for it largely by transferring $5.24 million out of its capital renewal reserve fund. The intent at the time was to repay this money, plus lost interest, to the fund over a period of no longer than 10 years.

However, council decided last week to accept a staff recommendation that the city not repay the fund after all.

The capital renewal reserve fund is “a discretionary reserve fund, created and controlled by council,” says a city staff report. “Therefore, not repaying the reserve is an option available through a decision of council.”

However, the report cautions, “this option will reduce the amount of money available in (the fund) for future capital projects and may limit the city’s ability to participate in large grant programs, due to lack of funding available to pay for the municipality’s share of the project.”

The fund is what remains of a $30-million Guelph Hydro note that used to make an annual contribution to city coffers.

In July of 2009, council decided to cash in the long-standing hydro note and use most of the proceeds to fund the city’s share of a flurry of infrastructure-related construction projects that were done in Guelph under a federal-provincial stimulus program. In March of 2013, the capital renewal reserve fund was created with the money that remained.

Of the $30 million received from Guelph Hydro, about $17 million has been used for infrastructure fund projects, recreational infrastructure projects, wireless IT and a facility energy retrofit, the report says. Not paying back the $5.24 million for the Urbacon settlement will leave about $7 million in the fund.

Staff originally proposed repaying the money taken from the fund for the Urbacon settlement over five years, with $1.25-million instalments in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and a $240,000 payment in 2019.

By the time they presented the city’s 2015 draft budget to council, though, staff had reduced their recommended 2015 instalment to $900,000 “due to financial constraints” in the 2015 budget. They proposed instead to make the final instalment in 2019 larger.

But on budget night in late March, council voted 8-5 to cut the 2015 instalment from the recommended $900,000 down to $400,000, thus shaving about one-quarter of a per cent off this year’s property tax increase. At the time, Coun. Dan Gibson lamented that the Urbacon settlement was “a cowbell around our neck” that could push taxes up for years.

The staff report says that sticking to the five-year repayment schedule would “add to the pressures facing our operating budget” and so was not being recommended. Extending the repayment schedule to the maximum of 10 years, which would result in lower annual instalments, also wasn’t recommended.

Another option was to fund the repayment through the city’s annual investment income, but this would reduce the amount of investment income available to be used in the city’s operating budget. “This would put increased pressure on the city to cut services or require additional funding through property taxes to maintain existing service levels,” the report says, so this option also wasn’t recommended.

The money that was put in March into the 2015 budget for Urbacon repayment will go into city reserves now that it’s not needed for this purpose, council was told.

Guelph has to devote more money to capital spending on infrastructure, and it might need to look beyond the regular tax base for funding, city council was told Tuesday.

The need for increased capital spending on infrastructure is “probably the biggest issue facing municipalities today,” said Jim Bruzzese, president of BMA Management Consulting Inc., a consulting firm regularly used by Guelph and many other Ontario cities.

Guelph has an “older stock” of infrastructure compared with many newer cities, but it has relatively low reserves of tax money, Bruzzese told a council workshop on the capital budget.

“I’m not trying to sound the alarm bells,” but council needs to look at sustainable infrastructure funding, Bruzzese said. Guelph’s tax reserves amount to 41 per cent of its annual taxation, compared with a more typical 70 per cent among Ontario municipalities, he said.

“Your infrastructure gap is quite large,” and Guelph should strive for a long-range funding strategy, he said.

A number of municipalities, such as Barrie, Oakville and Mississauga, have established special levies in order to work gradually toward ensuring sufficient funds are set aside for infrastructure needs, Bruzzese said. The typical range is one to two per cent extra on property tax bills, with this money set aside for infrastructure needs.

But there are other ways of doing this, he said. These include adding a capital fee surcharge to fees for recreation facilities and equipment, creating separate user-fee-funded utilities for such things as stormwater infrastructure, and effective use of debt.

He noted that Kitchener and Waterloo are among the cities that have recently established stormwater utilities, which raise money for stormwater infrastructure in a manner linked to use rather than property assessment.

Mayor Cam Guthrie, who opposed the idea of special levies for such things as downtown redevelopment during his single term as a Ward 4 councillor, said he appreciated Bruzzese’s list of several options for raising more money to address the so-called infrastructure gap.

“What I appreciate seeing tonight was there was a list of options and it wasn’t just a tax levy,” Guthrie said.

As part of the workshop, council members were each given a few green dots and asked to place them next to capital projects that are their top priorities for this term of council.

Construction of new parkades to create 600 downtown parking spaces topped the list with 11 dots, while a south end recreation centre got five dots. This proposed recreation centre was estimated to cost about $59 million, while the downtown parking cost was estimated at $24 million.

Eight dots were placed next to downtown improvements and a new library, all linked to redevelopment of the Baker Street Parking Lot. There was no cost estimate listed for this project.

Guthrie, who has opposed the idea of building a new downtown library, said he didn’t like the way this project was listed, and he wondered what other council members understood “downtown improvements and library” to mean. He said he could think of many downtown improvements “that don’t involve a library.”

The only councillor not at the workshop was Dan Gibson of Ward 1.

The other Ward 1 councillor, Bob Bell, complained about not being able to use extra dots on Gibson’s behalf to ensure the east end’s viewpoint was adequately represented.

“I consider that to be unfair representation,” Bell told the meeting.

]]>http://www.guelphtribune.ca/news/infrastructure-deficit-looming-for-guelph/feed/0Guelph native takes on Chinese marketshttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/community/guelph-native-takes-on-chinese-markets/
http://www.guelphtribune.ca/community/guelph-native-takes-on-chinese-markets/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 18:30:26 +0000sbeattiehttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/?p=40206An international trade mission is no small thing. It involves speaking to a foreign country’s delegates, making business connections and representing Canada. But a group of 35 Canadians 16 to 25 years old, including two Guelphites, will be doing just that during a two-week trip to China on behalf of Global Vision.

Guelph native and University of Guelph alumni Alexis Wagner, a former Centennial Collegiate student, is among these junior leaders. She’ll spend July 28 to Aug. 13 promoting organizations such as the Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development and the University of Guelph’s engineering program and Bioproducts Development and Discovery Centre.

“We’ll be visiting some of the quickest developing cities in China,” Wagner said. “The populations are in the multimillions and seen as up-and-coming, untapped markets.”

Wagner, who won the U of G’s prestigious W.C. Winegard Medal in 2014, currently lives in St. John’s. Nfld., and works as a brewing manager at Labatt Breweries of Canada.

She was selected from hundreds of eligible participants.

“I have an incredible opportunity to network on behalf of Canadian partners,” said Wagner. “Both Ontario and Newfoundland have resources to offer China’s booming market. For many products, all that’s missing is an on-the-ground contact to prove a potential market and jump-start the supply-chain formation.”

The junior leaders will spend their days meeting with different Chinese businesses, students and agricultural producers to advocate on behalf of their partners and provide information.

Another University of Guelph student, Martin Nickel, is also taking part in the trip. He is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and figure skater who originates from Thompson, Man. During the trade mission, he’ll be promoting economic and cultural relationships between China and his hometown.

Global Vision is a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides young Canadians hands-on international experience representing Canadian culture and industry abroad. Since it began in 1991, Junior Team Canada has travelled to more than 35 different countries on six continents.

]]>http://www.guelphtribune.ca/community/guelph-native-takes-on-chinese-markets/feed/0Fountain funhttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/uncategorized/fountain-fun/
http://www.guelphtribune.ca/uncategorized/fountain-fun/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 18:20:34 +0000sbeattiehttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/?p=40203Children frolic in the Blacksmith Fountain in Priory Park during what we can assume was a heat wave on Aug. 12, 1965. This photo is from the Guelph Public Library Archives and identifies the location of Priory Park as being at Quebec and Macdonell streets. The fountain had been moved in 1922 from its original location at St. George’s Square to its current location. It fell into disrepair until 1991, when it was restored to its former glory. Quebec Street, of course, no longer intersects with Macdonell, because of the construction of the Eaton Centre mall in the early 1980s where the Sleeman Centre and Old Quebec Street now stand. The

Tribune’s new Then & Now feature takes archival images and superimposes them over a current photo of the same location.

A Guelph family is caught in a “vortex” of medical politics and bureaucracy as the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care decides whether or not it can help fund three-year-old Bentley Mitchell’s life-changing surgery in the United States.

“During the last three years, we’ve done it all. We’ve tried numerous therapies, programs, equipment and medical procedures,” wrote Bentley’s mom Melissa in a statement. “Bentley has achieved milestones we were uncertain he’d ever reach, such as sitting, crawling and speaking.”

Now they’re hoping he’ll overcome the next challenge – walking without his walker or quad canes.

The surgery, called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), will almost guarantee he’ll get there. SDR is performed on the spine and permanently relieves the constant muscle tightness and stiffness Bentley experiences.

SDR is not performed in Ontario, but it is at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri. Altogether it will cost about $140,000, which includes travel expenses, the surgery itself, post-operative care and a year of rehabilitation.

Earlier this year, St. Louis determined Bentley is an “excellent candidate” for SDR. If he gets it, his cerebral palsy will improve; he will be able to walk on bumpy trails or across a sandy beach; he will live with less pain.

“We want him to experience running to first base, jumping on a trampoline, or, at the very least, walking across the room to give us a hug,” said Bentley’s father Chad.

Bentley was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of one. It was caused by a brain bleed he suffered when he was born, alongside his twin Cooper, three months premature. He has another brother, Tye, who is five years old.

Right now the family is going through the Ministry of Health’s process of appeals to get coverage. If they win, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan will cover the surgery – about $30,000 to $40,000 of the $140,000.

Getting this help, however, is proving to be no small task.

To be eligible for OHIP coverage, Bentley needs a referral from one of two pediatric neurosurgeons, Dr. Olufemi Ajani or Dr. Sheila Singh, at McMaster Children’s Hospital.

“We heard from other families and our family doctor that the McMaster pediatric neurosurgeons are not making referrals for this surgery,” said Melissa. “They did refer a couple of children earlier this year, but then they just stopped.”

The Mitchells themselves tried too. On June 26, Bentley’s family doctor referred Bentley to Dr. Ajani and Dr. Singh for a referral. On the following Monday, they sent a letter back saying no.

“They didn’t even review his case. It was just a flat no,” said Chad.

McMaster confirmed Dr. Ajani and Dr. Singh have stopped referring children whose family doctors contacted them directly. The reason given was that earlier this year Dr. Ajani and Dr. Singh were “inundated” with these kinds of calls, said McMaster Hospital’s public relations specialist Vel Snoukphonh. She spoke on behalf of the doctors, who refused an interview request.

Why all the calls?

“Maybe families were trying to be proactive and therefore connecting with their family physicians to get referrals,” said Snoukphonh.

Even still, it’s a no go.

McMaster’s pediatric neurosurgeons will consider patients for SDR only if they are referred to them through McMaster’s Spasticity Clinic. That’s where children with cerebral palsy receive treatment from a pediatrician, registered nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and child life specialist.

Bentley’s been going there his whole life.

In the clinic’s handbook, SDR is outlined as a treatment option. Melissa also brought it up to Bentley’s team as something she’d be interested in pursuing.

“(The Spasticity Clinic) never suggested it themselves. When Melissa mentioned it, they said they could talk about it later, but nothing ever came of it,” said Chad. “They certainly didn’t seem to be in any kind of hurry.”

So, without an Ontario doctor’s referral the Mitchells are caught in a kind of limbo. Bentley’s surgery at St. Louis is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of December. They’ll need to make a payment Nov. 1.

They’re waiting to hear back from the Ministry of Health, which is currently reviewing SDR to determine whether or not it’s safe to recommend patients.

SDR has been performed for almost 30 years on 3,000 patients in St. Louis.

If the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee deems it safe, the Mitchells can go back to Dr. Ajani and Dr. Singh to try again for a SDR referral.

“Personally, I don’t think the doctors will change their minds,” said Chad. “Their decision seems to be more about politics than the actual surgery.”

If Bentley still can’t get referred, the ministry told them that’s when they can file an appeal, said Chad.

“OHIP has given us no end date and no specifics,” he said. “We feel like we’re in a vortex going around and around.”

The Ministry of Health cannot talk about specific cases, but said this in a statement to the Tribune:

“While there are no legislative time frames for an appeal under the Health Insurance Act to be heard before a panel of the Health Services Appeal and Review Board, the board strives to ensure that matters are heard as expeditiously as possible.”

“Files often proceed at different rates, impacted by availability of the parties and their witnesses and timely exchange of documentation.”

The Mitchells have decided Bentley will get the surgery no matter what. They’ll even remortgage their house if they have to.

“We are not going to sit in a system of appeals for two to three years. Bentley is at the preferred age for this surgery, and he will be getting it in December,” said Chad.

How you can help

The Mitchells know of five other families in Ontario who are fundraising for the same surgery, so they decided to follow suit.

At the beginning of June they began a Go Fund Me campaign, and they have so far raised close to $70,000 of their $100,000 goal. In July, the restaurant company Obsidian Group Inc. donated more than $40,000.

A group of families also raised close to $3,000 at a garage sale last weekend.

“We had amazing community support and we are so thankful!” wrote Chad in an email. “Thank you (friends and community) from the bottom of our hearts.”

To find out more about Bentley and to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/bentleysjourney

]]>http://www.guelphtribune.ca/community/family-struggles-to-get-ohip-funding-for-three-year-old-son/feed/0An Uber dilemma lands in Guelphhttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/opinion/an-uber-dilemma-lands-in-guelph/
http://www.guelphtribune.ca/opinion/an-uber-dilemma-lands-in-guelph/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 16:32:52 +0000nbekavachttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/?p=40200The dog days of summer are upon us. Traditionally a time when life slows down for various municipal councils, boards and committees; meeting dates disappear as city officials head to the cottage.

So it made sense last week when Uber Canada launched its uberX service in Guelph. What better time to catch a municipality off guard than peak summer?

We noticed it in the tepid response from the Guelph Police Service. Was it surprise, or indifference?

In the Tribune’s story on Uber, reaction from the small Guelph taxi industry was critical of the response, accusing the city of abetting tax evasion by allowing Uber to operate unchecked.

The tax angle is a minor concern in a hornet’s nest of issues with the San Francisco-based ride-sharing service. But cab companies are justified in calling out Guelph officials for failing to have a game plan in place for Uber’s arrival. After all, this issue has been on the radar for close to a year. Municipalities have had ample time to come up with measures to protect the public and develop ways to find and fine Uber drivers.

But have they? In the Guelph police board’s favour is the fact that even after months of debate on the issue, very few municipalities have a set-in-stone policy to deal with Uber. Lawsuits are just starting to crop up as Canada’s largest city continues to grapple with it, two years into Uber Canada’s Toronto launch. Earlier this week, Waterloo Region said it will act on a complaint basis to fine Uber drivers up to $25,000. How the cities plan to tackle that job remains unclear.

In Guelph, officers are already charging independent drivers for taking payment for rides. They know Uber transactions will be more elusive.

The fact that illegal taxis were operating in Guelph long before Uber indicates demand for a ride service is greater than the supply. It could also mean the consensus among the prime demographic using Guelph’s licensed taxi operators is they aren’t up to snuff.

Not true, according to members of the local taxi industry who point to existing technologies like smartphone apps, in-car security cameras, text message dispatch and real-time-GPS-vehicle tracking software as proof they’re at least on par with Uber’s hipster appeal.

Those features are great, but the real advantage of licensed taxis, and something the Uber generation appears to be overlooking for the sake of saving a few bucks, is the fact that once they step inside that cab, they’re protected by commercial vehicle insurance, not to mention the knowledge that their driver has passed the face-to-face scrutiny of local police. Accidents that result in injury are fully covered.

Uber has stated the insurance they offer covers drivers up to $5 million, but they’ve failed to sufficiently prove that coverage extends to their passengers.

So while municipalities continue to wrestle with the bylaw-violating aspect of these ride-sharing services, the onus to bring Uber in check may lie with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Unfortunately, Uber is just the tip of the iceberg in the growing “sharing economy,” and it might take an accident and serious injury to set a precedent that ends in a resolution.

]]>http://www.guelphtribune.ca/opinion/an-uber-dilemma-lands-in-guelph/feed/0Galt Day celebrations this weekendhttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/community/galt-day-celebrations-this-weekend/
http://www.guelphtribune.ca/community/galt-day-celebrations-this-weekend/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 15:51:43 +0000nbekavachttp://www.guelphtribune.ca/?p=40199A day of festivities will take place at city hall’s Market Square on Saturday in honour of Guelph’s founder John Galt.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., everyone’s invited to partake in a pop-up promenade on Wilson Street, interactive entertainment, T-shirt printing, games and crafts. The day will also feature Cleo the Clown, Guelph Storm’s hockey tunnel and the City of Guelph’s water wagon. Bring your swimsuits and play in the splash pad.

A kirking we will go

On Sunday, the Old Stone Churches and the Guelph Historical Society host the seventh annual John Galt Sunday Kirking.

“Kirking” is a Scottish ceremonial parade of dignitaries led by a piper. The annual ritual is a prelude to a civic church service that recognizes the contributions of local leaders, appreciation for the dedication to the community and expresses hope for their wisdom in the years to come.

The ceremony was a regular sight in John Galt’s hometown of Irvine, Scotland, at the time of Guelph’s founding in 1827.

Spectators are invited to follow the piper and parade of civic leaders as they are “kirked” from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Hall, around the corner and through the front doors starting at 10:15 a.m.

The organizers are seeking donations of non-perishable food items for distribution to Sister Christine’s Welcome In Drop-in Centre and the Chalmers Community Services Centre. Both charities are supported by the ecumenical group CORE (Guelph Churches’ Outreach).

This year’s service will mark the 100th anniversary of the writing of In Flanders Fields, as St. Andrew’s was the home congregation of John McCrae and his family.

Participants are encouraged to wear tartan and get out their kilts and sashes.

Skateboarders and scooter riders will receive complimentary admission to the Victoria Road South skatepark on weekdays in August and the first few days of September.

“We are excited to once again offer skateboarding to our young citizens who have expressed a desire to have a safe place to practise their sport this summer,” Adam Rutherford, the city’s project manager of youth services, said in a news release.

The schedule for the complimentary admission is Aug. 4 to 7, from noon to 6 p.m., Aug. 10 to 14, from 5 to 9 p.m., Aug. 17 to 21, from 5 to 9 p.m., Aug. 24 to 28, from noon to 6 p.m. and Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, from noon to 6 p.m.

Users under the age of 14, and those who haven’t used the facility in the past, must have a parent sign a waiver.

The city is spending $5,000 to offer the service.

Guelph has rented space at the Ward Skatepark since 2010, when it dismantled the Deerpath Park skateboard.

The Deerpath facility, located in a west-end neighbourhood park, was removed because of concerns from nearby residents, primarily about noise.

Construction on a new $800,000 skatepark in Silvercreek Park is expected to start later this summer.